Strongmen
Ruth Ben-Ghiat
A strongman needs to be seen as loved, which requires the strongman to be an excellent speaker to capture the attention of the people. From Mussolini to Hitler, strongmen have held massive rallies in order to both win the hearts of the people and to show to the world and any potential opposition that they have them. These speeches will be long tirades on whoever the strongman is blaming for the problems of the week. However, on the flip side, without people at rallies, the strongman looks weak, especially when these rallies are televised. This has led leaders, such as Mussolini, giving incentives to attend his rallies, such as when he offered people from rural communities the opportunity to come to the capital for free in exchange for attending his rallies.
Strongmen present their country as representative of all people of a certain race; for example, Italy represents all Italians, and Germany represents all Germans. This allows the strongman to use race in politics by pointing out a racial minority and blaming them for all of the problems a country faces. The strongman can then consolidate power under the pretense of protecting the “purity” of a country. Additionally, as the strongmen claim a country represents everybody of a race, that gives the strongmen justification to gain more territory that is inhabited by others of the strongman’s race, such as when Germany took over Austria prior to World War II.
Strongmen want to be seen as the embodiment of their country as it gives them justification. For example, a favorite saying of the strongman is that whatever they are doing is “the will of the people”, which it rarely is. This phrase can be used not only to talk about decisions that the strongman is making but the strongman’s very power, as strongmen are rarely elected, and never elected completely fairly. This phrase provides a powerful justification for strongmen in a variety of contexts.
Strongmen use propaganda to stay in power. This involves turning media into puppets and having them incessantly praise the strongman of their country. This prevents any mistakes the strongman makes from becoming fatal for the regime and allows the strongman to control the flow of information. An example of the extremity of propaganda when in 2001, those with dementia recognized Berlusconi, a strongman of the time, but not members of their own family, showing the level at which propaganda was being funneled to people.
Due to the brevity of most strongmen’s regimes, strongmen use corruption to gather wealth that will stay with them once they leave power. They do this in a variety of ways. First and most obvious, they will appropriate national funds for their personal interests. Additionally, they will do favors for wealthy businessmen in exchange for a large kickback. Finally, they will put family members in important positions and use them as a source of wealth. This allows the strongman to live comfortably long after losing power.